What are the key takeaways from this The Daily (NYT) episode?

Key insights include: **Water scarcity scale:** Havana residents lack running water approximately six out of seven mornings. Those on upper floors must carry buckets from basement cisterns five or more times per morning just to wash and prepare for work. The crisis compounds three simultaneous failures: a regional drought, infrastructure dating to the 1930s, and electricity outages that disable water pumps entirely.; **Transportation collapse since January 2025:** Havana's public bus network has functionally ceased operating since January. The only transit option crossing the city's main tunnel is a bicycle-cargo bus. A tunnel taxi now costs 700–1,000 pesos — up to one-third of Gustavo's 3,600-peso monthly salary — triple what the same ride cost before Trump's sanctions took effect.; **Fuel-driven cascading failures:** Cuba's complete depletion of oil, diesel, and aviation fuel triggers simultaneous secondary crises: garbage trucks stop running, trash accumulates street-level, residents burn waste in dense urban areas, mosquito-borne diseases including dengue and chikungunya spread without fuel for extermination equipment, and medicine shortages prevent treatment of resulting illness.

What did Gustavo Torres Armis discuss on The Daily (NYT)?

NYT reporter Lynsea Garrison documents daily life in Havana through 25-year-old Gustavo Torres Armis, who describes how Trump's maximum pressure campaign — including an oil embargo and economic sanctions beginning January 2025 — has collapsed Cuba's power grid, water supply, transportation, and food distribution systems. Key topics include: **Water scarcity scale:** Havana residents lack running water approximately six out of seven mornings. Those on upper floors must carry buckets from basement cisterns five or more times per morning just to wash and prepare for work. The crisis compounds three simultaneous failures: a regional drought, infrastructure dating to the 1930s, and electricity outages that disable water pumps entirely.; **Transportation collapse since January 2025:** Havana's public bus network has functionally ceased operating since January. The only transit option crossing the city's main tunnel is a bicycle-cargo bus. A tunnel taxi now costs 700–1,000 pesos — up to one-third of Gustavo's 3,600-peso monthly salary — triple what the same ride cost before Trump's sanctions took effect..

How long is this episode of The Daily (NYT)?

This episode is 47 minutes long. SignalCast provides an AI-generated summary so you can get the key insights in about 3 minutes.

The Daily (NYT)

Cuba Under Siege

July 10, 2026

47 min episode · 2 min read

Gustavo Torres Armis

Episode

47 min

Read time

2 min

Topics

Economics & Policy

AI-Generated Summary

Published Jul 10, 2026

Key Takeaways

✓Water scarcity scale: Havana residents lack running water approximately six out of seven mornings. Those on upper floors must carry buckets from basement cisterns five or more times per morning just to wash and prepare for work. The crisis compounds three simultaneous failures: a regional drought, infrastructure dating to the 1930s, and electricity outages that disable water pumps entirely.
✓Transportation collapse since January 2025: Havana's public bus network has functionally ceased operating since January. The only transit option crossing the city's main tunnel is a bicycle-cargo bus. A tunnel taxi now costs 700–1,000 pesos — up to one-third of Gustavo's 3,600-peso monthly salary — triple what the same ride cost before Trump's sanctions took effect.
✓Fuel-driven cascading failures: Cuba's complete depletion of oil, diesel, and aviation fuel triggers simultaneous secondary crises: garbage trucks stop running, trash accumulates street-level, residents burn waste in dense urban areas, mosquito-borne diseases including dengue and chikungunya spread without fuel for extermination equipment, and medicine shortages prevent treatment of resulting illness.
✓Household income versus food costs: A three-person household in Havana earns a combined 13,600 pesos monthly. One pound of sugar now costs 800 pesos — roughly 6% of total household income for a single staple — and prices increased week-over-week. Cooking oil, coffee, cigarettes, and rice face chronic shortages, forcing families to monitor state bodegas daily for irregular deliveries.
✓Electricity inequality within Cuba: Havana residents with underground electrical infrastructure maintain near-continuous power, while citizens in provinces like Camagüey average two hours of electricity daily — sometimes zero for 24–48 consecutive hours. Power arrives unpredictably, including at 2 AM, forcing residents to run washing machines and complete household tasks immediately regardless of the hour.

What It Covers

NYT reporter Lynsea Garrison documents daily life in Havana through 25-year-old Gustavo Torres Armis, who describes how Trump's maximum pressure campaign — including an oil embargo and economic sanctions beginning January 2025 — has collapsed Cuba's power grid, water supply, transportation, and food distribution systems.

Key Questions Answered

•Water scarcity scale: Havana residents lack running water approximately six out of seven mornings. Those on upper floors must carry buckets from basement cisterns five or more times per morning just to wash and prepare for work. The crisis compounds three simultaneous failures: a regional drought, infrastructure dating to the 1930s, and electricity outages that disable water pumps entirely.
•Transportation collapse since January 2025: Havana's public bus network has functionally ceased operating since January. The only transit option crossing the city's main tunnel is a bicycle-cargo bus. A tunnel taxi now costs 700–1,000 pesos — up to one-third of Gustavo's 3,600-peso monthly salary — triple what the same ride cost before Trump's sanctions took effect.
•Fuel-driven cascading failures: Cuba's complete depletion of oil, diesel, and aviation fuel triggers simultaneous secondary crises: garbage trucks stop running, trash accumulates street-level, residents burn waste in dense urban areas, mosquito-borne diseases including dengue and chikungunya spread without fuel for extermination equipment, and medicine shortages prevent treatment of resulting illness.
•Household income versus food costs: A three-person household in Havana earns a combined 13,600 pesos monthly. One pound of sugar now costs 800 pesos — roughly 6% of total household income for a single staple — and prices increased week-over-week. Cooking oil, coffee, cigarettes, and rice face chronic shortages, forcing families to monitor state bodegas daily for irregular deliveries.
•Electricity inequality within Cuba: Havana residents with underground electrical infrastructure maintain near-continuous power, while citizens in provinces like Camagüey average two hours of electricity daily — sometimes zero for 24–48 consecutive hours. Power arrives unpredictably, including at 2 AM, forcing residents to run washing machines and complete household tasks immediately regardless of the hour.

Notable Moment

Gustavo reflects that a decade ago, homeless people and individuals eating from trash cans were essentially nonexistent in Cuba — a reality so consistent that their absence was unremarkable. Today, he regularly passes groups of ten to twenty people sleeping on streets and scavenging food from garbage.

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Episode Transcript

I'm Susan Lee. I'm a researcher and fact checker with The Daily. What I do is make sure details in our episodes are accurate. For us, every single fact in an episode matters. The Daily is part of The New York Times. We do everything we can to make sure we get the facts right. Subscribers make it possible for us to do that. If you wanna subscribe to The New York Times, go to nytimes.com/subscribe. From The New York Times, I'm Natalie Kitroeff. This is The Daily. Is the Cuban government the Trump administration's next target, mister secretary? For the past six months, the Trump administration has been carrying out a maximum pressure campaign against Cuban government is a huge problem for So is that a yes? Cuba. I think they're in a lot of trouble. Yes. Yeah. Cuba's gonna be next. Cuba's gonna be Cuba's a mess. It's a failing country, and they're gonna be next. That campaign has included an oil embargo selling oil to Cuba. An indictment against the country's former president Castro. And economic sanctions. What we're seeing now is a whole new level of punishment. Will you make a public commitment today to rule out US regime change in Cuba? Regime change? Yes. Oh, no. I think we would love to see the regime there change. And as Cuba's oil has dried up Island wide blackout followed The country's blackouts have gotten longer and longer. Cuba is a country running on fumes. The country will run out of aviation fuel today, and fears have grown about a spiraling humanitarian crisis. The island nation's power grid completely collapsed today, leaving a country with little to no access to basic services like water, food, and medical care. Doctors here say across the country, people are dying because of the fuel crisis. No power has led to women delivering babies in dark hospitals. And then, earlier, Cuba's energy minister said the island had completely run out of fuel, oil, and diesel. Cuba reported it had officially run out of oil. Cuba has essentially run out of oil. Not not essentially. They have run out of oil. Cuba's at the end of line. They're very much at the end of the line. They have no money. They have no oil. Cuba's in its last moments of life. I do believe I'll be the honor of having the honor of taking Cuba. That'd be a good honor. That's a big honor. Taking Cuba? Taking Cuba in some form. Yeah. Taking Cuba. I mean, whether I free it, take it, I think I could do anything I want with it. Today, my colleague Lindsay Garrison talks to one Cuban about how his life has been completely transformed under Trump's pressure campaign and what the future holds for the Cuban people. It's Friday, July 10. Gustavo Torres Armis is 25 years old. He lives in a residential neighborhood in Havana, just across the bay from the capital center. He lives in …

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